Reflections, Observations, and Analyses Pertaining to the Canadian Political Scene

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A Suggestion For The Wayward Woman From Wadena

A Star reader has a succinct suggestion for the errant Senator Wallin:

Re: She pays up, but Wallin's not happy about it, Sept. 14

If Pamela Wallin really wants to “unburden” the people of Canada, and in particular the people of Saskatchewan, she will do the right thing and resign from the Senate. She has brought shame and disrespect to herself and to the Senate through her outrageous behaviour.

The fact that she has agreed to repay $136,369 speaks volumes of her claim of innocence. And to blame the outside audit firm of Deloitte and the Senate’s internal investigative committee for her wrongful deeds simply exacerbates her guilt.

I still want to see how Pam does on the residency smell test. It strikes me that Wallin, like Duffy, Ms. Stewart-Olsen and probably a good many others, are ineligible to sit as senators for their notional home provinces.

Then again the residency rule does sound a bit archaic. By some accounts the Senate sits for upwards of seven months a year which would disqualify all except Ontario or Quebec senators if they were dutiful in attending.